Door for refrigerators



(No Model.) 2 sheets shet i.

C. SAND-ER.

DOORFOR REFRIIGERATORS. No. 537,722. Patented Apr. 16, 189 5.

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V v DOOR FOR REFRIGERATORS. N0. 537;722. Patented Apr. 16,1895.

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R Q ATTORNEYS.

Uwrrao STATES 'FATENT @rrrca.

CARL SANDER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DOOR FOR REFRIQERATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,722, dated April16, 1895.

Application filed May 26, 1894. Serial No. 512,568. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, UARL SANDER, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andState of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inRefrigerators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to an improvement in refrigerators, and it has forits object to provide a means whereby the door of the refrigcratingcompartment when opened may be carried to a horizontal position and slidwithin the said compartment, and whereby when the door is thus slidinward it will effectually prevent the escape of cold air from the icecompartment out through the opening disclosed by the door, thusreserving all of the cold air above the door for service in therefrigerating compartment when the door is closed again.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means whereby when thedoor is closed it will automatically adjust itself to form an air-tightconnection with the wall of the opening it is adapted to cover, andwhereby also the door while being a sliding one may at any time beconveniently and expeditiously removed from the body of therefrigerator, for purposes of cleansing, repairs, &c.

A further object of the invention is to construct a sliding door of thecharacter above described in an exceedingly simple, durable and economicmanner.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of the improved refrigerator.Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken essentially on the line 2--2 of Fig.1, the door of the refrigerating compartment being closed. Fig. 3 is anenlarged verticalsection of the refrigerating compartment of therefrigerator, the door being in closed position. Fig. t is a viewsimilar to Fig. 3, illustrating the door open to disclose therefrigerating compartment and in position to prevent the escape of coldair from the ice comthe lower portion of the recess.

partment. Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through the refrigeratingcompartment, at right angles to the section shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig.6 isadetail sectional view of the door, the said section being takenpractically on the line 66 of Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectionthrough the door and one of the jambs, the said section being takenessentially on the line 7'7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of thedoor; and Fig. 9 is an outer face view of the door jamb, illustratingthe outer termination of the slide-way for' the door.

The refrigerator door A, is provided with a tapering or inclined upperedge 10, and a rearwardly tapered or inclined lower edge 11, as shown inFig. 8. In each side edge of the door near its top, a longitudinalrecess 12, is made, the said recess being substantially wedge shaped andwidest at its top, as shown in Fig. 6. A screw 13, islocated in theupper portion of this recess, the head of the screw being substantiallyflush with the outer face of the side edge of the door; andasecond andcorrespondingly located screw 14., is located in A plate 15, is pivotedupon the lower screw 14, that screw being usually provided with a flange14. against which the plate may rest, and the screw 13 is passed looselythrough the upper edge of the plate, the plate being pro vided withcountersinks to receive the heads of the screws. The plate 15, is heldnormally flush with the outer face of the said side edge of the doorthrough the medium of a spring 16; and ordinarily immediately oppositethis spring a stud 17 is formedupon the outer face of the plate, whichstud may be carried within the recess 12 by pressing the plate in aninwardly direction. It will be understood that a plate of thisdescription is located at each upper side edgeof the door.

With reference to the body of the refrigerator, it is illustrated asbeing provided with an ice compartment B in the upper portion 5 isprovided with an opening 21, adapted to be closed by the door A, and theupper and lower edges of this opening are inclined correspondingly tothe upper and lower edges of the door.

A vertical batten or contact strip 21, is usually secured to the sidewalls of the refrigerating compartment at the door opening, and the saidbattens While extending to a point near the bottom of the saidopeningterminate short of the top, as illustrated in Fig. 4, and meethorizontal battens 22, adapted as supports for the door when it is inits inner open position, and at the ends of these horizontal battens awall 24, is vertically formed, usually making a portion of, or a supportfor the gutter 20, and in this wall a longitudinal recess 25, is formed,shaped correspondingly to the upper edge of the door.

Above each horizontal batten 22, or rest for the door, a horizontalgroove 26, is produced, and the said grooves terminateat the wall 24,and commence at a point near the outer edge of the side walls of thedoor opening 21, and at the inner termination of each of the grooves awear plate 27, is recessed or countersunk in the side walls of the dooropening, as shown.

in Fig. 9, said wear plate being provided with a recess 27 in its side,corresponding to and registering with the groove 26 at the end of whichit is located.

An upper or guide batten 28 is located above the lower or supportingbatten 22 at each side of the refrigerating chamber, and the upperbattens are inclined, the space being greater between them and the lowerbattens at the front than at the rear, as is clearly shown in Figs. 3and 4:.

In hanging the door, the plates 15 are pushed inward until the studs 17are within the recesses 12. The upper edge of the door is thenintroduced into the door opening until the studs are opposite thegrooves 26, whereupon the plates are relieved from pressure, and thesprings 16 will force the said studs into the said grooves 26, and bycarrying the door outward until the studs enter the recesses 27 in thewear plates 27, the door may be permitted to drop to a perpendicularposition over the door opening and will completely close the same, andby reason of the opposite inclination of opposite ends of the door, andthe corresponding inclination of the ends of the opening with which theends of the door are to contact, the door will have a wedge action inclosing, and will automatically tighten itself in position.

When the door is opened to gain access to the refrigerating compartment0, it is carried to an upper horizontal position and pushed rearward, orwithin the compartment 0, the studs traveling in the grooves 26 and thedoor resting upon the upper battens 22; and when the door has beenpushed into the compartment as far as possible, its upper beveled orinclined edge will enter and fit snugly in the correspondingly shapedrecess 25 in the said rear wall 2t of the compartment; and the cold airfrom the ice chamber or compartment will be effectually prevented fromentering the refrigerating compartment and escaping therefrom throughthe open door-way, since the trough 20 and the door will completelyclose communication between the ice compartment and the refrigerator,communication being again established the moment that the door A isrestored to its normal or closed position in the front of therefrigerator.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a refrigerator, the combination of a casinghaving an opening in its front wall and horizontal guide Ways extendingrearward from the upper part of said opening at opposite sides thereof,battens extending along under said guide ways and parallel thereto, anda door having at the upper parts of its opposite sides pivoted platesprovided with projecting lugs engaging the said guide ways, and springsarranged under said plates and adapted to normally hold the same inposition for the lugs to engage said guide Ways, substantially as setforth.

2. The combination of a casing having a slotted guide Way, a door havinga recess in its edge opposite the guide-way, screws at opposite ends ofthe recess, a plate perforated at opposite ends to receive the screwsand provided with a lug to engage the guide Way in the casing, and aspring arranged in the recess beneath said plate and adapted to hold thesame normally pressed out, substantially as set forth.

CARL SANDER.

Witnesses:

J. FRED. ACKER, O. SEDGWICK.

